Schlumberger Technology Corporation, the assignee of this application, has provided a commercially successful borehole tool, the MDT (a trademark of Schlumberger), which extracts and analyzes a flow stream of fluid from a formation in a manner substantially as set forth in co-owned U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,859,851 and 3,780,575 to Urbanosky. The analyzer module of the MDT, the OFA (a trademark of Schlumberger) determines the identity of the fluids in the MDT flow stream. Mullins, in co-owned U.S. Pat. No. 5,266,800, teaches that by monitoring optical absorption spectrum of the fluid samples obtained over time, a real time determination can be made as to whether a formation oil is being obtained as opposed to oil based mud (OBM) filtrate. In particular, the Safinya patent discloses a borehole apparatus which includes a testing chamber, means for directing a sample of fluid into the chamber, a light source preferably emitting near infrared rays and visible light, a spectral detector, a data base means, and a processing means. Fluids drawn from the formation into the testing chamber are analyzed by directing the light at the fluids, detecting the spectrum of the transmitted and/or backscattered light, and processing the information accordingly. Prior art equipment is shown in FIGS. 1A-1C.
Because different fluid samples absorb energy differently, the fraction of incident light absorbed per unit of path length in the sample depends on the composition of the sample and the wavelength of the light. Thus, the amount of absorption as a function of the wavelength of the light, hereinafter referred to as the "absorption spectrum", has been used in the past as an indicator of the composition of the sample. For example Safinya, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,994,671, teaches, among other things, that the absorption spectrum in the wavelength range of 0.3 to 2.5 microns can be used to analyze the composition of a fluid containing oil. The disclosed technique fits a plurality of data base spectra related to a plurality of oils and to water, etc., to the obtained absorption spectrum in order to determine the amounts of different oils and water that are present in the sample.
When the desired fluid is identified as flowing in the MDT, sample capture can begin and formation oil can be properly analyzed and quantified by type. Samples are used to determined important fluid properties such as the gas-oil ratio (GOR), saturation pressure, wax and asphaltene precipitation tendency, fluid densities and fluid composition. These parameters help set various production parameters and also relate to the economic value of the reserve.
Prevalent use of oil based mud (OBM) in some markets has resulted in a premium placed on discriminating between OBM filtrate and crude oil. A variety of oils are used as the base for OBM such as diesel, synthetics such as C16 and C18 monoalkenes, and even crude oil. Due to the variety of base fluids and their overlapping properties with crude oils, it is difficult to identify a single signature of OBM to contrast it with crude oil. Furthermore, the use of a label or taggant for the OBM filtrate is often discouraged in part because of the difficulty in labeling at a fixed concentration 5000 barrels of mud and in part because mud engineers do not want to use any additives which may have an unknown significant consequence on drilling characteristics. Mullins, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,266,800, teaches that by monitoring optical absorption spectrum of the fluid samples obtained over time, a real time determination can be made as to whether a formation oil is being obtained as opposed to OBM filtrate. As noted above, Mullins, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,266,800, discloses how the coloration of crude oils can be represented by a single parameter which varies of several orders of magnitude. The OFA was modified to include particular sensitivity towards the measurement of crude oil coloration, and thus filtrate coloration. During initial extraction of fluid from the formation, OBM filtrate is present in relatively high concentration. Over time, as extraction proceeds, the OBM filtrate fraction declines and crude oil becomes predominant in the MDT flowline. Using coloration, as described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,266,800, this transition from contaminated to uncontaminated flow of crude oil can be monitored.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,780,575 and 3,859,851 to Urbanosky, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,860,581 and 4,936,139 to Zimmerman et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,994,671 to Safinya et al., and U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,266,800 and 5,859,430 to Mullins are hereby incorporated herein by reference.